Spring Break
Women golfers ready for NCAA Regionals
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Sports
The Georgia women's golf team travels to Gainesville, Fla., Thursday looking to advance from the NCAA East Regional to the NCAA Championships. Doing so would be a slight upset, at least according to the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee.
The Bulldogs, who are No. 14 in both the Golf World coaches' poll and the Golfstat rankings and are No. 15 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, are the No. 9 seed in the 21-team field. Only the top eight teams compete in the NCAA Championships on May 19-22 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mill, Md.
The 54-hole East Regional tees off at 7:40 on Thursday morning, with the Bulldogs paired with Vanderbilt and Tennessee for the first round at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Since the NCAA instituted Regional play in 1993, Georgia has advanced to 12 of the 16 NCAA Championships, including 10 of the last 11.
The Bulldogs approach this week isn't simply survive and advance, however.
"If you look at the field, we've beaten just about everybody we'll be competing against," head coach Kelley Hester said. "We're going in with the mindset to go out and try to win. I don't think this tournament is any different than any other tournament we'll play this season."
By its lofty standards the Bulldogs have 20 top-10 finishes in the last 30 years Georgia has struggled of late.
The Dogs finished sixth at the rain-shortened Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, which was an 18-hole shootout following two days of torrential rains. Georgia then limped to a 14th place effort at the Bryan National before placing sixth at the SEC Championships.
The SEC finish is somewhat misleading, as the Bulldogs played the final two rounds with only four golfers after Leigh Crosby strained ligaments in her right hand after striking a tree root during a shot midway through the second day of play.
Georgia's quartet of remaining players showed positive signs at SECs. Marta Silva Zamora captured medalist honors, while Mallory Hetzel finished third, five shots back. Carolina Andrade tied for 32nd but carded a 72 in the final round. Tess Fordham played the final six holes of the third round at even par.
- Georgia Sports Communications
The Bulldogs, who are No. 14 in both the Golf World coaches' poll and the Golfstat rankings and are No. 15 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, are the No. 9 seed in the 21-team field. Only the top eight teams compete in the NCAA Championships on May 19-22 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mill, Md.
The 54-hole East Regional tees off at 7:40 on Thursday morning, with the Bulldogs paired with Vanderbilt and Tennessee for the first round at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Since the NCAA instituted Regional play in 1993, Georgia has advanced to 12 of the 16 NCAA Championships, including 10 of the last 11.
The Bulldogs approach this week isn't simply survive and advance, however.
"If you look at the field, we've beaten just about everybody we'll be competing against," head coach Kelley Hester said. "We're going in with the mindset to go out and try to win. I don't think this tournament is any different than any other tournament we'll play this season."
By its lofty standards the Bulldogs have 20 top-10 finishes in the last 30 years Georgia has struggled of late.
The Dogs finished sixth at the rain-shortened Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, which was an 18-hole shootout following two days of torrential rains. Georgia then limped to a 14th place effort at the Bryan National before placing sixth at the SEC Championships.
The SEC finish is somewhat misleading, as the Bulldogs played the final two rounds with only four golfers after Leigh Crosby strained ligaments in her right hand after striking a tree root during a shot midway through the second day of play.
Georgia's quartet of remaining players showed positive signs at SECs. Marta Silva Zamora captured medalist honors, while Mallory Hetzel finished third, five shots back. Carolina Andrade tied for 32nd but carded a 72 in the final round. Tess Fordham played the final six holes of the third round at even par.
- Georgia Sports Communications
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